


I'll Do My Best

by Master_of_the_Rebels



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-28
Updated: 2012-04-28
Packaged: 2017-11-04 11:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/393254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Master_of_the_Rebels/pseuds/Master_of_the_Rebels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dick is seriously injured and nearly killed, forcing him into a prolonged hospital stay. Damian attempts to come to terms with his mentor’s mortality but ends up being demanding instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Do My Best

**Author's Note:**

> This is short and sweet but I hope you all enjoy! Dick and Damian are one of my favorite pairings in the DCU.

Silence had been predominant in the room for a good ten minutes now, and Dick knew better than to break it when the younger male had such an anguished look on his face.  When Damian had first walked into the room, the color had left his cheeks and a stricken expression had spread almost immediately across his features.  No doubt he had planned to chastise Dick for his weakness, but Dick was fairly certain the sight of him hooked up and looking like he had a foot already in the grave was beyond shocking, even for the normally unaffected boy.

 

So he allowed Damian his moment of gloom, the black cloud almost visible above his head.  Dick even let the fact that the boy had a strong grip on his arm, an obvious anchor, go without a word, and they continued to sit in a deafening quiet together while Damian’s grasp got progressively tighter by the minute.

 

Damian’s fingers started digging painfully into Dick’s forearm, causing the man in the hospital bed to wince and frown as Damian glared hatefully at the sheets.  “Damian, that kind of—”

 

“You are not allowed to die, Grayson.”

 

Dick paused at the sudden command before smiling wryly, “Hey now, that’s kind of a tall order.”

 

Damian’s lips pulled back in a low snarl, making the bedridden man arch his brow in surprise.  “I will not allow it!” The grip on Dick’s arm tightened more and he finally had to try to draw it away to escape the abuse.  The motion seemed to snap the teen out of whatever phase he’d been in, and a look of worry and guilt splashed across his fine features at the sight of the nail imprints in his mentor’s skin.  “I…”

 

Massaging the little marks, Dick tilted his head and reached out, pulling a half-heartedly resistant Damian to sit on the edge of the mattress.  With an indulgent smile, he pushed his fingers through his protégé’s hair, cupping the back of his neck and enjoying one of the rare moments that Damian permitted an intimate touch.  “Your hair’s gotten long.” The only response he received was a tense gritting of teeth.  “You’ll have to cut it soon, or you’ll start to look like Tim.”

 

“Tt.  Hardly.” Dick’s smile broadened before he felt his eyelids start to droop, the exhaustion seeping back into him.  Pulling the sheets back and using his hold on the young man’s neck, he drew Damian further onto the bed until he had no choice but to slump against Dick’s torso, nose pressing into the man’s neck and hands slipping around his waist.  To his credit, Dick refrained from commenting on how little persuasion it took for Damian to fall into the position.

 

Dick flipped the sheets back over them just as Damian wrapped a leg around Dick’s thigh and shifted closer, the action oddly protective.  They lay there in peace for several long minutes, Dick’s fingers idly playing in the hair along the boy’s nape before he cracked an eye at a sudden squeeze.  If he hadn’t been tuned in to him, Dick might have missed the mumble that ghosted across his collar.

 

_“Please…don’t ever die.”_

 

Dick’s eyes slipped shut with a quiet smile and he wound his arms securely around the young hero.  “I’ll do my best, Dami.”


End file.
